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We asked pro gamers about what they want from Dragon Ball FighterZ Season 3
The third tour of Dragon Ball FighterZ is coming, and it’s jam-packed with content and characters. Here’s what the world’s best players make of it.
After defeating the last competitor of the Dragon Ball FighterZ World Tour Finals, Goichi ‘GO1’ Kishida claimed his prize. Summoning forth Super Shenron, he made his wish, revealing the Season 3 DLC pack to the audience.
This, alongside an announcement of another World Tour circuit and the promise of a massive balance patch, has already revitalised the scene. It’s been numerous months with the same meta, and players have been asking for a shakeup.
As well as two new characters – Kefla and Ultra Instinct Goku – in a few weeks, Dragon Ball FighterZ will introduce mechanics that’ll turn the battle system on its head. As you can imagine, the big names of the game will all be scrambling to adjust.
“I really like the new characters and I’m very hyped,” says 18-year-old French competitor and a rising star in the European scene, AS Monaco Esports’ Marwan ‘Wawa’ Berthe. He sees the tweaks and additions as hopefully enabling him to go even further when the circuit kicks off again for the 20/21 season.
“It was a very good season, and I was happy [winning] Red Bull Japan, but I really want to progress and do better next season,” he tells us.
One of the biggest inclusions in the Season 3 update are the additional assists. Before, every character came loaded with a single assist attack, but the patch will give the whole cast three different ways to support their team. This adds a wealth of variance to the game by possibly increasing each character’s utility.
Those with weak assists before might now carry a new way to start offensive rushdown or act as a defensive maneuver. It’ll take quite a bit longer to figure out the most optimal teams and assists now.
On the subjective of competitive viability, the update is slated to come with a swath of alterations across the entire cast for a better balance. At the time of this writing, the patch notes have yet to be released. However, there have been a few details that slipped through the cracks during the trailer.
Eagle-eyed onlookers have spotted the removal of fuzzies, a massive pain point for bigger characters that have prevented them from showing up on top player’s teams. An unnamed mechanic focusing on swinging the momentum of a match back in favour of the loser is also being added. Although comeback mechanics could shrink the skill gaps if done wrong, a correct implementation done right could be a reasonable equaliser.
The new characters and changes to the meta have begun turning the gears in everyone’s heads, including the top players. Depending on how powerful the DLC characters end up being, we might be seeing some new teams at the highest levels of play. Even the most loyal still hold pending circumstances.
"I've been running the same team for the whole two years,” says Joan ‘Shanks’ Namay Millones, who’s been the one to put Android 18 on the map. “Through all the patches, it's the team I really love because of the characters.”
But sticking with his squad is contingent on what Season 3 brings. "At this point, I want to keep playing my team, but next season if my team can’t compete at the highest level I'll have to change." He hopes that the new update smooths out the tiers so more of the cast can be showcased by their fans.
In Season 2, there were many warriors unknown simply because nobody selected them. Season 3 could be vastly different. "If they can get rid of the balance issues, there's definitely a lot of good characters to explore,” he says, referring to the competitive balance. “I hope the balance patch will let us see them."
The newly announced DLC characters have caught the eyes of many, including the World Tour Champion. Open to exploring any new addition to Dragon Ball FighterZ, GO1 is ready to test out both Kefla and Ultra Instinct Goku.
“I need to see how strong they are – like how they move and their gameplay. Of course, when the characters come out, I’ll try them,” he tells us.
Even the previous winner is salivating at the opportunity to test drive the new content – Ultra Instinct Goku especially.
“I hope he’ll be as strong as GT Goku,” says Ryota ‘Kazunoko’ Inoue. “I hope he’ll have a different playstyle than GT Goku. I want him to be very defensive.”
We’ll see what the new season brings when the details for the new circuit are announced; we can’t wait.
